Into the Minds of Criminals
by ECLucas
Summary: Kagome only had one dream in life: to join the BAU. When she finally gets the chance she also finds the family that she's been looking for. However, her past comes back to haunt her and her team. Human AU; Chapters 1 and 2 redone!
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha and I never will. I only own my story so no stealing.**

**A/N: I know I'm way overdue on this story. Between finishing college, work, applying and now attending graduate school, several family tragedies, and working on my novel, I kind of put this story to the side. I rewrote the first two chapters because I wasn't really satisfied and I'm working on the rest. I'll update when I can but I'm still going to school, working, writing a novel, and working on at least three other fanfics (which I hope you will check out as well). I decided to continue this one since it was still getting favorites three years later and I wanted to reward my loyal viewers (thank you by the way!). Anyway, enjoy!**

Kagome Higurashi stood in front of the large and intimidating FBI building. She watched nervously as men and women scurried in and out and immediately began to worry that maybe she shouldn't have worn this light blue blouse and kept her hair down. She took a deep breath and forced her frantic heart to slow some. This was her dream and she had been working so hard to finally get here. She wasn't going to let her nerves stop her now.

She walked into the building and breathed a sigh of relief when she recognized the figure talking to the secretary. Inu Taisho was the director of the FBI and the father of Kagome's new supervisor. He had offered to introduce her to her team, not only because his two sons were a part of that team but also because Kagome was only 25 and incredibly young to be joining the prestigious Behavioral Analysis Unit. The current BAU was filled with gifted but relatively young agents but Kagome would be the youngest who was ever accepted.

As Kagome approached the desk she called out to the director. "Director Taisho!"

Inu looked up from his conversation and turned around with a smile, his brilliant golden-brown eyes sparkling at her. "Ms. Higurashi! Welcome!" He leaned over the desk and grabbed her badge. "Here's your badge and if you'll follow me, I'll take you to your new office."

Kagome clipped her badge onto one of her belt loops and followed Inu to the elevator. The elevator came quickly and as they got on Kagome realized that she was only minutes away from officially starting her dream job. As they walked onto the elevator, Kagome glanced sideways at the director. He was in his late-fifties but you would never be able to tell. His face lacked any wrinkles and his short silver hair wasn't from age. Kagome had heard that the director and his sons all shared the same unusual hair and eye colorings.

The elevator stopped on the BAU's floor and Inu led Kagome to her new Unit Chief's office. Kagome was painfully aware of the stares that she was receiving and began to unconsciously pull on her blouse. Inu knocked on the door and after hearing a gruff "Come in", pushed the door open. Kagome had to keep herself from gaping. Sitting at the desk was the most handsome man that she had ever seen. A younger version of his father, Sesshomaru Taisho had the same straight silver hair that was cut at his shoulders, and gorgeous golden-brown eyes that looked like molten gold in the light. Kagome also knew that he would be young. As one of the best agents in the FBI, Sesshomaru was only 30 when he had been hired two years ago to head up the BAU.

Sesshomaru looked up from his work and eyed the young woman standing next to his father. She was definitely a rookie the way she was nervously looking around the office but he trusted his father's judgment. Her midnight black hair was wavy and fell to the small of her back and her eyes were a brilliant shade of sapphire. "This is my new agent?" Sesshomaru asked Inu, although he already knew the answer.

Inu nodded. "This is Kagome Higurashi. Kagome, this is your new Unit Chief, Sesshomaru Taisho," he introduced.

Kagome took this as her cue and stepped forward with her hand outstretched. "Please, call me Kagome. It's nice to meet you Mr. Taisho," she said politely.

Sesshomaru stood up and shook her hand. "Call me Sesshomaru. Let me introduce you to the rest of the team." He walked around his desk and led her out of the office. He was about to call the team over but found that it was unnecessary, as his team had already gathered in front of the door, curious about the newcomer.

"Hey Sess, who's the chick?" the white-haired male asked. Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed but Kagome blushed. She assumed that this was the other Taisho brother.

"This is our newest agent, Kagome Higurashi," Sesshomaru said. "Kagome, this is the rest of the team. The loud mouth is my brother, Inuyasha Taisho. The others are Kouga Ookami, Sango Hiraikotsu, Miroku Bousan, our media liaison Kikyo Miko, and our technical analyst Shippo Kitsune." As he introduced each member Sesshomaru pointed them out so that Kagome could remember their face.

Inuyasha was smirking up at them. He looked very similar to his father and brother but not identical. His hair was coarse and white and stopped mid-neck and his eyes were amber. Kouga was attractive and had a very warm smile. His black hair was short and straight while spiked forward some and his eyes were a slightly darker shade of blue than Kagome's. Sango was a pretty woman with a confident and welcoming look. Her straight black hair was pulled into a ponytail and she had warm brown eyes. Miroku also looked welcoming enough. He also had brown eyes and short brown hair. Kikyo was a gorgeous woman with straight black hair that was about as long as Kagome's and brown eyes. Shippo looked to be even younger than Kagome. He has coarse red hair that was cut short and bright green eyes.

Kagome walked down the stairs to the bullpen to talk with her new teammates. As soon as she stepped off of the bottom step, she felt a hand caress her bottom. She automatically turned around and smacked the offender, leaving a red handprint on Miroku's cheek. Kagome gasped and was about to apologize when the rest of the team started laughing. "That's what you get Miroku", Sango said. "You and your wandering hand." She offered a hand to Kagome. "Welcome to the team. It'll be nice to have another woman around."

Kagome smiled and gratefully accepted her hand. "Thanks. It's great to be here."

Sesshomaru watched as his newest agent interacted with the rest of the team. "Director, a word." Inu followed Sesshomaru into his office. "I understand the need for a new agent, but a rookie? Isn't she a little young for the BAU? Not that I don't trust your judgment."

Inu grinned and nodded. "She is a little young," Inu admitted, "but she'll be a great asset to the team. She's a genius in her own right and one hell of a profiler."

Sesshomaru frowned slightly but didn't say anything else. He still had some doubts but as he watched his team welcome the young woman, he felt strangely at ease about the whole situation. At least it seemed that Kagome would fit in well.


	2. Chapter 2

Kagome sighed as she closed her fifth case file of the day. They had already handled several cases in the week since she joined but they had all been pretty straightforward, nothing too exciting. She supposed she couldn't complain too much. Nothing exciting was supposed to be a good thing but after a week she had hoped that she would see more action.

She had become close to her team during her first week. Sango and Kikyo had taken Kagome under their wings and Shippo was just like a little brother. Miroku continued to try and grope her but Sango was usually there to step in. Inuyasha became the older brother that Kagome never had, teasing her and making her feel like a part of the team. Kouga was constantly flirting with Kagome and calling her "his woman". Although flattering at first, Kagome had started to find it a little annoying.

Sesshomaru was the only one who still seemed indifferent to her. He was cordial enough but only so. At time she could have sworn that he was still watching and judging her, which he most likely was.

Inuyasha walked up to her desk and grinned. "Not all the action and glory that you were expecting, huh?"

Kagome grinned back. "Yeah, you could say that."

Kikyo walked up to them. "Hey guys, meet in the conference room. We have a new case. This one's pretty bad."

Inuyasha grinned. "Looks like you're about to get your action."

Kagome followed Inuyasha into the conference room and sat at the table. In front of them and on the board were pictures of five women who had clearly been strangled and had their hair sheared off. Kagome gulped. This was a little different than what she had expected.

"Five women in San Francisco have been strangled over the past 25 days. All of them had their hair cut off," Kikyo said. "Another woman went missing four days ago."

"That's one woman every five days, so this woman has until tomorrow," Kouga calculated.

"Five dead and one missing? Why weren't we called in earlier?" Inuyasha asked angrily.

"The San Francisco police department hasn't had the best track record with the FBI," Kikyo explained, "so they were a little reluctant to admit to needing help." Inuyasha snorted but remained quiet.

"It says here that all of the victims had their hair washed and conditioned multiple times before they were killed," Sango said reading the case file. She continued on the next page. "None of them were raped."

"A man who can't get it up?" Miroku guessed.

"Or a female," Kagome said out loud. The team looked at her and she could feel her face grow warm. She still had yet to get used to that. "The hair is clearly what the unsub is after and a female would be more likely to treasure hair than a male. A female could also easily overpower them if they were drugged. Strangling is an easy way to kill these women without damaging the hair, like poison or a bloodier method would. Also, the way that the unsub treats the hair points to a woman."

Inuyasha nodded. "The report does say that a date rape drug was found in their systems. Why would anyone use a date rape drug and not rape them?"

"To weaken them," Sango said quietly.

Sesshomaru nodded. "We leave in 20." Kagome was following the rest of the team out of the conference room to grab their travel bags when Sesshomaru stopped her. "Kagome, good call on the female unsub. It'll really help us narrow down our suspects."

Now Kagome knew that her face was definitely getting red. "Um, thank you sir, I mean, Sesshomaru."

Sesshomaru offered a rare grin and left.

Kagome was still in a slight daze from Sesshomaru's compliment when she boarded the plane. She sat on one of the couches and tried to refocus by looking at the case files again. After a few minutes Sango sat down next to her. "Are you okay Kagome? You've been looking at the same sentence for a while now."

Kagome broke out of her daze and smiled at Sango. "I'm fine. I guess I'm just a little nervous about my first big case."

Sango smile sympathetically and hugged her friend. "You'll do fine. You already have. Plus, you have us to back you up."

"Thanks Sango."

Kikyo came out of the cockpit and sat down. "The pilots are ready to take off."


	3. Chapter 3

Several hours later the team arrived in San Francisco. They picked up their standard black SUVs and drove to the police station first.

The station was unsurprisingly busy. Officers were coming and going but nearly everyone stopped what they were doing when the BAU walked in. With their official-looking attire, it wasn't difficult to tell who they were. They stood in the doorway awkwardly as officers glared their way. "You weren't kidding when you said San Francisco police had a problem with the FBI," Inuyasha whispered to Kikyo.

The captain stepped out of his office after noticing the agents and frowned at his officers. "Get back to work, all of you," he ordered. He walked up to the agents and shook Sesshomaru's hand. "Sorry about that. Not everyone is happy with the decision to bring the FBI in on the case. I'm Captain Hernandez. We have a room set up for you just like you asked."

Sesshomaru nodded. "Thank you, and I assure you, we're not here to judge or imply that your officers can't do their jobs. We're just here to help. I'm Agent Taisho and these are Agents Ookami, Bousan, Taisho, Hiraikotsu, Miko, and Higurashi."

"Two Taishos?"

"My younger brother," Sesshomaru explained.

The captain nodded his understanding. "The room is this way."

The captain led them to a room near the back of the station that had already been set up with evidence boxes and a large board with notes. The team walked in and immediately got to work. The captain watched in mild amusement. "They don't waste any time," Sesshomaru said with a smirk.

"I see that." The captain grimaced as Inuyasha erased the entire board. "I'm sorry but those were our notes for the case," he stated.

"We prefer to start from the beginning," Inuyasha said without turning from the board. "Start fresh without a bias."

The captain frowned but he wasn't about to question the FBI when he had been one of the few advocates to bring them in. "Okay…well, if you need anything else just let me know."

Sesshomaru stepped into the room and put his bag down to the side. "Okay, Miroku and Sango, go visit the family of the missing girl. Inuyasha and Kouga, you're with me. We're going to talk to the family of the last victim. Kikyo and Kagome, work with Shippo to find a connection between the victims. This girl has less than 24 hours so let's move."

Miroku and Sango drove to the address that was listed in the file. The house was located in a quiet suburb, similar to the previous victims. The neighborhood was definitely upper-middle class with signs of overspending in an attempt to fit in. They parked in front of the house they needed, walked to the door, and knocked. This was definitely one of the hardest parts of the job. A couple of minutes later a young man opened the door. He looked at the agents curiously. "Can I help you?"

They nodded and showed him their badges. "We're with the FBI," Miroku said. "I'm Agent Miroku Bousan and this is Sango Hiraikotsu. May we come in?"

The man's eyes widened and he nodded. "Of course." He stepped back to let them in. "Is this about Sarah? Have you found her?"

Sango shook her head. "Not yet. We're with the Behavioral Analysis Unit. We were hoping to ask you some questions about Sarah and get more of an idea of what she's like."

The man frowned. "Well, I'm her husband Randy. How is asking about her life going to help you find her?" he asked.

"Part of our job is to find the unsub through patterns and behaviors," Miroku explained. "The more we know about Sarah, the more we'll know why the unsub chose her."

Randy led them to the living room and sat down. The mantle was covered with framed pictures of Randy with a beautiful brunette. "What do you need to know?"

"Does Sarah have a regular routine that she follows?" Sango asked. "A routine that someone might've known about?"

Randy shook his head. "Not really. She's a column writer so she mainly works from home but she'll travel to where the story is too. She's really passionate like that, always chasing the story," he said with a sad smile.

"Does she take care of her hair well?" Miroku asked.

Randy frowned. "Her hair? I suppose so but what woman doesn't? She goes to the hair salon every other week to get her hair done professionally done, not that she needs it. She's always taking care of it at home."

"What salon does she go to?" Miroku asked.

Randy thought about it. "Umm, Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow I think it's called. I'm not really sure, there are so many places in the city."

Sango nodded and stood up, Miroku standing next to her. "Thank you," she said as they both shook his hand.

"Do you think she's still alive?" he asked fearfully. "It's ben five days."

"Until we have proof that says otherwise, we'll continue to work under the assumption that she's still alive," Sango answered him.

"We'll find her," Miroku promised.

As the two agents drove back to the station, Sango reported in. She hung up and looked at Miroku. "The others are on their way back as well."

"Did they get anything?"

Sango shook her head. "Not much, pretty much the same as us. No strict routine because the victim was a stewardess and she loved to take care of her hair, but she went to a different salon."

"So no real connection there, besides loving her hair, but that doesn't give us much," Miroku said shaking his head. "Well, hopefully Shippo, Kikyo, and Kagome had better luck."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I have to hand it to the writers of Criminal Minds; this is not easy. This is also not my area of expertise. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the next chapter!**

Kagome felt like slamming her head against the table. They had gone through everything and there were no connections between any of the victims besides their love of caring for their hair. The rest of the team began to file in so Kagome composed herself.

"Did you find anything?" Sesshomaru asked. He looked over the geographical map that Kagome had just been contemplating putting her head through.

"Nothing," Kikyo answered regretfully. "We did manage to narrow down the unsub's hunting ground, but it doesn't do us any good if we can't figure out what's attracting her, or how she's grabbing her victims."

"We need to focus on the hair," Kagome muttered.

"What?"

Kagome looked around at her team. "The hair. That's the only connection."

"But all of the victims went to different hair salons," Kouga said.

"And they all have different hair colors," Inuyasha pointed out. He glanced back at the board full go blondes, redheads, and brunettes.

"That just proves that the unsub doesn't have a color preference," Kagome explained. "We've already established that the unsub is female so there's not going to be a sexual component."

"She's taking the hair as a trophy," Sango concluded.

"Or she's using the hair," Sesshomaru said. He was starting to see what Kagome was getting at.

Kikyo frowned. "For what?"

"Wigs!" Kagome exclaimed.

Miroku smiled, happy that they might finally have a lead in this case. "That would explain why the hair color doesn't matter," he said. "All of the victims had fine hair. She might be looking for hair that matches her own in texture, but not in color."

"So we're looking for a wig-maker?" Inuyasha asked. "That still doesn't explain how this woman is finding and grabbing her victims."

Sesshomaru was about to make a suggestion when the captain knocked on the door and walked in. "Sorry to interrupt but they found another body."

The team piled into their SUVs and drove to what was obviously a dump site. It was in the middle of nowhere and off the highway, away from where most people would go. It was a wonder that anyone had found the body at all. "A man found it when he was cleaning up trash. Apparently locals like to dump stuff here because they know they won't get caught," the captain explained, referring to the littering fine signs that were posted all along the San Francisco highways.

"Would a tourist know about this spot?" Sesshomaru asked.

The captain shook his head. "It's not likely. This is a pretty secluded area."

The team stood on the hill looking down into the ditch. The body of the woman lay tossed haphazardly in the dirt. Kagome sighed sadly. It never got any easier. "She wasn't supposed to toss her until tomorrow," Inuyasha growled.

"That most likely means she's already taken another woman," Sango said.

"But why did she dump her early?" Kouga asked.

Sesshomaru frowned. "It's probably because of our presence. She threw this woman out like trash this time. There was no consideration. It looks like she was in a hurry."

"Sarah? Is that Sarah? Sarah!"

The team turned to see Sarah's husband Randy running to the crime scene. With a nod from Sesshomaru, Kikyo went to intercept him. "Poor guy," Kagome said sympathetically. "He thought we at least had until morning to find her."

"Let's get back to the station," Sesshomaru ordered. "We're ready to give the profile."

Back at the station the team stood in front of a room full of unimpressed looking officers. "We're looking for a female with hair expertise," Inuyasha started. "At one time she was most likely a wig-maker or was familiar with one but considering the time she spends with these women and taking care of their hair, she is most likely unemployed now."

"She doesn't have a preference in hair color but she does prefer a hair type: fine. She would've experienced a traumatic experience most likely causing her to lose her own hair two or three months ago, which would be her stressor. It's what caused her to start killing," Sango continued.

"But how is she finding her victims?" an officer asked. "The victims all went to different salons."

"It's not the salons that are important," Sesshomaru answered. "It's the frequency that the victims went to the salon. We need to check each salon. There will most likely be a posting or advertisement offering independent hair services at each salon."

Kikyo stepped forward. "I'll be releasing this profile to the public at the press conference later today. For now, keep any eye on the salons in this area." She passed out a set of maps. "We narrowed down the area that the unsub is hunting in. Look for unusual signs offering discounted services with no address, probably just a phone number."

"She's a local," Kagome said, "so she knows the area well. She's familiar with the hair salons especially. We believe she has a house with a hair salon in the basement. Women interested in her services call her and get her address directly. When she finds a woman she likes, she keeps her. Because getting your hair done at someone else's house is pretty common, women don't think twice about telling someone where they're going, especially when they're meeting another woman."

"The unsub has started to devolve," Sesshomaru warned, "meaning we can't rely on the five-day window anymore. She could kill her next victim at any moment."


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Sorry for taking so long to update. Enjoy!**

The team watched the live broadcast of Kikyo's press conference from the station. As they watched Sesshomaru looked at Inuyasha and Kagome. "I want you two to go to the last victim's hair salon. Look around. See if there's anything pointing to the unsub and question the hairdressers."

They nodded and left the station. As they drove Inuyasha glanced over at his colleague from the driver's seat. "So how's your first major case going?" he asked her.

"Not quite what I was expecting," Kagome answered honestly.

Inuyasha grinned sardonically. "It never is."

"Do you ever get used to it?"

Inuyasha frowned. "If you ever do, you need to get out of the job." He grinned again at her solemn face. "Don't worry, you'll be fine. You're doing well so far. Sesshomaru certainly thinks so."

Kagome blushed. "Really? He seems to just always be judging me."

"Oh he is," Inuyasha confirmed. "But if you weren't doing a good job, he would let you know, trust me."

Kagome nodded as they pulled up in front of the hair salon. It was a small building with large glass windows. It wasn't busy but it wasn't surprising. Even without the press conference, women had started to become cautious of hair salons.

There was one client and three stylists when the two agents walked in. One of the stylists walked up to them with a questioning look on her face. "Can I help you?"

They flashed their badges. "Can we ask you a few questions?" Inuyasha asked.

The woman grimaced. "Is this about that woman who's been killing other women and taking their hair?"

"Do you know anything about it?" Kagome inquired.

She shook her head. "Only that it's ruining our business. No one wants to come get their hair done out of fear that one of the stylists is going to chop their heads off."

Inuyasha looked around the nearly empty station. "Have you ever had any problems stylists in the past?"

She shook her head again. "Our stylists have all been great. We've never had any issues."

"What about any strange people hanging around the salon?"

"No one we've ever really noticed." She paused. "Actually, now that you mention it, there was a woman about a month ago who was hanging around here for a while. She seemed to be watching the place but she never came in."

"Can you describe her?" Kagome asked.

The stylist shrugged. "Um, thin, petite, Asian, and I think she was bald. She was wearing a wool cap."

"Have you seen her recently?" She shook her head. "Okay, thank you for your time," Inuyasha said. "If you happen to see her or remember anything, feel free to give us a call," he added handing her his business card.

They left the salon with not much more than they had to begin with. "Well, we have a potential suspect," Kagome said optimistically.

Inuyasha smirked. "Yeah, a small and bald Asian woman in San Francisco."

Kagome was about to mention that there couldn't be many bald Asian women in the city when she noticed a piece of paper a few feet from the salon entrance. "We said that the unsub was most likely unemployed, right?" Inuyasha nodded and watched curiously as Kagome walked over to the piece of paper. She indicated for him to follow her. "I think I found out how she's getting her customers. We were right about the advertisements." Tacked up on the wall was an advertisement for cheaper hair services, much cheaper than a salon, with slits of paper at the bottom with a phone number on each. Several of the slits had already been ripped off.

Inuyasha and Kagome returned to the station with the paper in hand. "We might've found something!" Inuyasha announced excitedly.

"What?" Sesshomaru asked.

Inuyasha placed the sheet of paper on the table. "Kagome found this near the salon entrance. This is how the unsub is getting her victims. She probably has them call ahead to schedule an appointment and gives them her address. There's probably a flyer by every salon that a victim went to."

Sesshomaru nodded. "Good work you two." He pulled out his phone. "Shippo? I need you to trace a phone number." He read the number from the paper and waited. "Okay, I'm putting you on speaker."

Sesshomaru pushed a button on his phone and Shippo's voice flooded the room. "The number belongs to Yura Ke. She was a hair stylist at Cady's Hair Salon, the first victim's salon, up until six months ago when she was fired after a customer complained about her being too "touchy" while doing her hair. That wasn't the first complaint that Yura received. Her father was also a master wig maker."

That covers almost everything," Inuyasha said, "but the stylist we talked to said that the women she saw was bald. Why would someone obsessed with hair shave her own off?"

"That also can't be the stresser," Kouga added. "She only started killing three months ago so there must be something else."

"Guys," Shippo cut in. "She was diagnosed with cancer and started chemotherapy three months ago."


End file.
